1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a string of beads with deformable connecting pieces which extend between each pair of adjacent beads and which are secured to the beads.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such strings of beads are made up of a large number of bead-connecting piece units and can be produced in any desired lengths. The length is always a multiple of the bead-connecting piece unit. Another advantage of these strings of beads is that they do not have to be tied.
However, the joint between the beads and the connecting pieces is problematic in the state of the art. A solution became known from GB 750 737, in which short, rigid connecting pieces with spherical ends engage positively in recesses of the adjacent beads. However, this kind of joint becomes detached under the action of quite severe tensile loading, and as a result, the string of beads can be lost. Furthermore, the length of the rigid connecting pieces is limited, because otherwise the string of beads takes on a polygonal shape and no longer adapts itself elegantly around the wearer's neck.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,009, the connecting pieces all consist of a multilink chain, which is fixed on two adjacent points of the beads by means of intermediate pins. The connecting pieces in the form of a chain can in this way be made up in any length, but joining to the beads via intermediate pins involves a high production expense.